2022, Vol.25, No.4

Korean Journal of Medical Ethics 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.21

pISSN : 2005-8284 / eISSN : 2234-3598
https://journal.kci.go.kr/medethics

In 2011 Korean Medical Association proposed guidelines concerning the withdrawal of life-sus-taining medical treatment, but in the years that followed, the proposal and the issue it addressed failed to receive any significant public attention. However, Korean legislators have recently held discussions on the so-called “Aided Dignity Death Act” (i.e. the Partial Amendment to the “Act On Hospice And Palliative Care And Decisions On Life-sustaining Treatment For Patients At The End Of Life”). Public discussions such as these are evidence of the rapid social changes that are taking place in Korean attitudes towards end-of-life care. In light of these recent changes, efforts should now be made to build a social consensus on the rights of patients at the end of life. This article contributes to that consensus-building process by analyzing the following six aspects of the proposed legalization of physician-assisted suicide (PAS): a patient’s right to choose the manner and timing of their death, the contents of the proposed act, the legitimacy of medical practices to support PAS, how prepared the Korean medical community is for the implementation of PAS legislation, the complement of the current legislation on end-of-life care, and the necessity of an organization for facilitating social discussions on PAS. The article argues for extending the right of patients to decline any intensive care from the “period of imminent death” that is mentioned in the current legislation on end-of-life care to the “terminal stage of life.”

In South Korea, a proposal that would legalize physician-assisted suicide was recently introduced in the National Assembly. According to this proposal, patients with a terminal illness who are ex-periencing constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated could request medical assistance in the suspension of life. This article describes the current status of phy-sician-assisted suicide in countries that have already legalized it, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada, and discusses some of the controversial aspects concerning the recent proposal to legalize physician-assisted suicide in South Korea.

South Korea has low scores on both the Happy Planet Index (HPI) and Quality of Death Index (QDI) in comparison to other countries with similar levels of economic development. As the number of hospital deaths increases, so too does the number of people experiencing miserable deaths due to the availability and perhaps misuse of life-sustaining treatment. However, given the current individualized social structure, an increasing number of people will spend the end of their lives in elderly care facilities and hospitals, experiencing miserable deaths. Although many people fear misery at the end of life, a realistic solution to this problem has not yet been found in South Korea. For this reason, a recent proposal to legalize physician-assisted suicide in South Korea has received strong public support. This article argues that past opportunities for meaningful public discussions concerning dignified dying have been squandered and that what is needed at this point is not further legislation that enables us to avoid thinking about these issues but rather mature dis-cussions concerning how we want to die.